United States, China reach critical deal on climate change

Climate change deal: U.S., China sign 'groundbreaking' deal

WASHINGTON – The world’s two biggest polluters have signed what could be a groundbreaking agreement and “call to action” on the fight against escalating climate change.

The United States and China announced Sunday they would accelerate action to reduce greenhouse gases by advancing cooperation on technology, research, conservation, and alternative and renewable energy.

But while the listed actions sound relatively mundane, the words that accompanied the announcement were not. In a joint and quite powerful statement on the dangers of climate change, the two sides said they “consider that the overwhelming scientific consensus regarding climate change constitutes a compelling call to action crucial to having a global impact on climate change.”

The statement recognizes an “urgent need to intensify global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions… is more critical than ever.” It goes on to say, “Such action is crucial both to contain climate change and to set the kind of powerful example that can inspire the world.”

The two sides state that manmade climate change is having “worsening impacts, including the sharp rise in global average temperatures over the past century, the alarming acidification of our oceans, the rapid loss of Arctic sea ice, and the striking incidence of extreme weather events occurring all over the world.”

Alden Meyer, spokesperson for the influential Union of Concerned Scientist in the United States, said the agreement “is potentially a very significant development, coming as it does from the world’s two biggest economies and greenhouse gas emitters.”

He said that by “pledging to set the kind of powerful example that can inspire the world, the joint statement certainly raises expectations that both the U.S. and China will move more forcefully to confront the threat of climate change.” He added, “The proof of the pudding, of course, will be in the details.”

These details will be worked out at a Strategic and Economic Dialogue between the two countries the July.

The agreement could impact Canada and the growth of the oilsands where companies predict their expansion will triple their greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. This expansion is largely dependent on the building of pipelines such as the Keystone XL to Texas, which remains a hotly contested issue in the U.S. where it has become the symbol of the struggle for strong action on climate change. Public hearings on the pipeline open in Nebraska Thursday.

If the U.S. and China significantly ratchet up the level of climate action, “that would give the lie to the Harper government’s claims that its policies are in line with those of other developed countries,” Meyer said. “We’ll have to see how this plays out, of course. Talk is cheap, but the US-China statement, in particular, heightens expectations for something significant later this year.”

The U.S-China statements contrast sharply with those made by Revenue Minister Joe Oliver who claimed last week that “some scientists” say action on climate change is “not urgent” and that “there is no problem.”

The agreement was reached during a visit to China this past weekend by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who has been a strong advocate of urgent action.

Equally significant was a similar deal announced, also this weekend, with Japan.

The deals with China and Japan reflect an action plan by U.S. climate negotiator Todd Stern, which he outlined in a paper published in 2007.

Stern’s plan was to create a sort of round table of the world’s worst regional polluters to chart climate change action thereby avoiding the unwieldy geopolitics of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

This group would essentially impose a global deal on the rest of the world. In addition to Japan, the U.S. and China, these countries would include the EU, Brazil, India and South Africa.

Bilateral deals with these countries are already in place, but the question is whether they will be ramped up to the level of the Chinese and Japanese deals.